


Silver Scales

by imagineagreatadventure



Series: JB Week 2017 [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Celtic Mythology & Folklore, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Retellings, Jaime/Brienne Appreciation Week, Jaime/Brienne Appreciation Week 2017, Little Mermaid Elements, Sirens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 07:45:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12228594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagineagreatadventure/pseuds/imagineagreatadventure
Summary: A mermaid desires to become human and a human desires a home.~Inspired by the Little Mermaid and the Scottish/Celtic tale The Mermaid Wife





	Silver Scales

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this version of The Little Mermaid although I feel as though I should warn you -- it's not what you're going to expect.

The ocean shined silver from the mountaintop. The storm clouds had lifted and the day had grown bright even as the sun sank in the sky. Brienne reached down to itch her bare legs - the grass was high here. Even with Brienne’s lengthy height the grass almost reached her knees -- guaranteeing red and blotchy legs. She knew when she finally made her way down to the sea that the salt water would sting her legs because of the grass but that mattered little. Brienne was used to pain and discomfort and would have to get used to even more if her father achieved his dearest wish - a marriage between her and… someone.

The whole thing, her father’s desperate search for Brienne’s husband-to-be , was the talk of the village -- perhaps even the island. Brienne pretended none of it was happening -- and she pretended it best by the water. She hated thinking that she was only worth what her dowry offered - a few sheep. When she was a child, her father had always laughed and said she was worth her weight in silver. Brienne never believed him and now it seemed he didn’t believe himself either. Not that he was rich enough to give silver to any man who’d marry her - he was only a simple shepherd - but why did he have to give her away at all? Why couldn’t she choose her fate in life?

The rocks bit into her hands as she climbed down the mountain and if she had not been so sure-footed, she might’ve fallen. As it was, she was the best climber on the island which allowed her to maneuver around the slippery, wet rocks with ease.

She had to reach the ocean quickly - if she did, she’d see _them_ again.

 _Them_ were the legendary creatures of the deep sea - sirens or mermaids depending on what villager you asked and what story they told. But Brienne didn’t ask them, knowing what they thought of her and the silly songs she sang to herself while she watched over the sheep. She kept to herself and dreamt of men and women with fishtails for legs until suddenly she spotted them, playing and laughing in the water with shining hair that danced in the silver light of the moon.

The night was coming and that meant they would be here, waiting for her. They were beautiful creatures, even the smallest of the three who had mismatched eyes and a horrendous laugh.

By waiting for her, of course, Brienne meant nothing as such. They did not know her and she did not know them. Yet she felt destined to know them.

And she was right.

That evening she waited in the wet sand, the bottom of her short dress (the only dress Brienne wore) dampening from the incoming tide. _What were they truly like_ \- she wondered.

In truth, there was not much to the creatures that she longed to understand. They were cruel and impetuous and unfriendly to humans. The smallest of them, Tyrion, was the most understanding of the three but even he believed himself to be above the beings that lived on the ground rather than the sea. He studied them with vicious wonder and believed they were as stupid as their father declaimed them to be.  His sister, the woman with long, shiny hair was Cersei - a true witch of the seas who turned any man who desired her into a pig or other beast - for there was no man she loved better than herself.

Her favorite of brothers was much the same - Jaime was no magician but a warrior who fought off the prey under the sea and above the water’s edge who fought to eat or destroy the mermaids. He cared nothing for the humans that wished to entrap him and his people and would kill anyone who harmed a hair on his family’s head.

But Brienne knew none of this. She only knew she had seen mermaids or sirens or something _magical_ from the Age of Heroes and Dragons. Hoping to catch their attention, she sang into the night sky, trying not to shiver as the air grew colder and the water grew chilly. Her legs felt near frozen and, to keep warm, she sang the songs she had always wished to sing but never dared.

For humans were as cruel as mermaids.

The humans Brienne associated with were particularly cruel and uncreative in their taunts -- her face was as ugly as her voice was a popular one when she did attempt a song. The worst of it was that it wasn’t true. Her songs weren’t off-key, her voice didn’t croak - but she was different and different was _bad._

That was why Brienne told no one about the time she spied the mermaids. At best, she would be laughed at - at worst, they would believe her and harm the creatures. She didn’t even tell her father - too afraid of what his reaction would be.

And so she waited alone - waited until, suddenly and violently, Cersei’s head hit the top of the water. The beautiful mermaid was alone for a sole minute still not seeing Brienne’s gaping figure, too busy brushing her long hair out of her face to see the human on the shore. Cersei’s tail flashed above the sea for a moment, long enough for Brienne to confirm what she was seeing but not long enough for her to see the color.

Brienne hesitated in calling out and it was good that she did for Cersei’s brothers followed her not long after both laughing at their sister. To Brienne’s surprise, she could understand the mermaids.

“Sweet sister,” Tyrion drolled. “I doubt your prince will be here.”

“He isn’t here,” Cersei said, sneering at her brother. “Don’t be stupid, Tyrion.”

Jaime grabbed his sister’s arm and laughed. “And why do you need a human?” he smirked. “You hate them as much as I.”

Brienne, hearing this, wisely extricated herself from the sand and decided to hide behind a large rock near the shore, grateful they had not paid attention to her. Jaime continued, his voice carrying over from the western wind. “No human is worth what you are trying to do, Cersei.”

There was a splash followed by an unfriendly laugh. “You are just jealous, brother,” Cersei said. “But you cannot have me any longer. This human prince rides dragons.”

 _Dragons?_ Brienne recalled talk of dragons a day or so past but had been preoccupied with mermaids that she did not listen. Now she wished she had.

The western wind quieted and Brienne could hear the three mermaids splashing and approaching the shore. She scrunched together as small as she could manage, hoping they would not find her. “That is fire, we are water,” Tyrion said. “We cannot become one. You will extinguish him.”

“Good,” Jaime said. “Then she will finish this nonsense and come back home once the human is dead.”

“It is too late, Jaime,” Cersei said. “I have already drunk the potion.”

“Then what is the vial around your neck?” he demanded.

“A poison. In case he chooses not to love me.”

Tyrion laughed. “A fool in either case then.”

_“Hateful creature.”_

“Do not go,” Jaime said, interrupting his siblings. “I cannot follow you there.”

But his sister, his twin, did not listen, reaching for the water’s edge, marveling as the sand covered her hands and when the pain finally struck, she screamed so loud that Brienne rushed out from her hiding spot, afraid that the mermaid had been spotted or hurt. Only Tyrion noticed Brienne for Jaime was swimming over to his sister in the shallow water as fast as he could, afraid that she had poisoned herself.

It was a rightful fear for Cersei had grown quiet after her violent scream. Every piece of magic asks for something and for Cersei - it was her _voice -- but only for a night._

But Tyrion’s voice was still in use. “You there, help her!” he ordered Brienne and she rushed to help Cersei whose naked form was paling from the cold water and wind.

His brother did not agree once he finally realized a human was there. “Don’t touch her!” he said, his teeth bared like a mad dog. Brienne ignored him, not liking how the once-mermaid looked, and hoisted Cersei’s lithe body out of the water. The woman was freezing to the touch. Brienne removed her own shirt and pants, grateful that she always kept flint and tinder in her pockets in case sheep got lost on a cold day. She lit a fire, ignoring the dismayed looks of the mermen in the shallow sea, both of them creeping up as far as they could on the beach, the water splashing their serpentine tails.

Cersei was covered in Brienne’s clothes, the dress swallowing the mermaid the way a whale might. Brienne was the naked one now and she shivered, relieved when the fire she made grew larger.

“How did you do that?” Jaime asked. Her bare back was facing the ocean making it hard for Brienne to hear him but Brienne was grateful for this. No man, mer or otherwise, had seen her naked before.

“It’s a simple thing humans know how to do,” she countered, remembering the sting of his words. “We get cold easily.”

Jaime had no response to that.

“Will she live?” the other brother asked.

Brienne touched the beautiful woman’s wrist. It wasn’t nearly as cold. “Yes.”

“That’s enough for me,” Tyrion said. “I will see you later, Jaime. Wish our sister well in her schemes for me, would you?”

“Go,” Jaime said and with a splash, Tyrion disappeared into the depths. He then spoke to Brienne. “You need more clothes, human or else you’ll freeze.”

Brienne let her hand dance near the embers almost wishing to burn. “The fire is warm enough.”

“Night is rising,” Jaime said. “You both will die with so little on, _human_.”

“My name is Brienne,” she whispered, not eager to fight with a merman.

“And mine is Jaime,” he said. “And my sister that sleeps in your clothes is Cersei. Pleasantries aside, nothing will matter if you both die.”

He was not wrong. Cersei would not survive without Brienne’s help nor would Brienne survive much longer without warm clothes shielding her from the cold wind. Brienne prayed to all the gods who would listen under her shuddering breath. Jaime, in the meanwhile, threw over seaweed for Brienne to cover herself with -- unfortunately, cold, wet seaweed helped her little.

True help arrived within the hour, the waiting punctuated by Jaime’s ill-advised taunts. Being called ugly by a merman who was more beautiful than any woman Brienne had ever seen - save his now human sister - was not as horrible as being called ugly by men who looked like dogs themselves but it was still unpleasant. Brienne was grateful when the merman swam away from the shallow end hiding behind his own rock as Brienne’s father approached, horrified by the sight.

“Brienne! Who is this girl? Where are your clothes?”

Brienne hated to lie, but did so quickly, explaining that she found Cersei on the sand, freezing cold and that Brienne did the only thing she knew she could do. Her father praised her for her good sense while handing Brienne his warm, wool cloak and picking up Cersei with ease. “It is good we live far from the village and close to the sea,” he remarked and Brienne agreed.

An entire day passed before Cersei, the once mermaid, woke up in Brienne’s bed. Her beauty was marred as soon as she did for her expression was quite ungrateful even as Brienne explained the situation with careful consideration.

“Then you saved me?” Cersei asked. Though her words sounded grateful, her voice sounded bored. “Then you must save me again. Help me find this prince of dragons.”

Brienne had already been to the market early that morning, keeping her ears open for talk of dragons. While she had ignored such talk before, she realized it was of importance. _Dragons were not creatures to be taken lightly_ \- _especially when there was a capricious mermaid sleeping in your bed,_ Brienne thought. “There is a Prince Rhaegar from the Crownlands who has come to see King Robert’s Stormlands, this includes Tarth.”

“And this is Tarth?” Cersei asked.

Brienne only nodded and Cersei laughed. “Then I shall bear the dragon prince sons of water and fire. Our children will rule the skies, the sea, and the land.”

“He is already married,” Brienne quickly said, hoping that the mermaid would change her plans and leave. “To Elia of Dorne.”

Cersei’s face only dimmed a fraction. “He is a dragon -- they can marry more than one. And if not, I can deal with his _wife._ ” Brienne remembered the poison and shuddered. She was glad she had hidden the vial far away from the cottage. She would have thrown it into the ocean but was too afraid it would harm an innocent mermaid - _if_ , Brienne thought, _there were any innocent mermaids._ After meeting Cersei and her brothers, she was unsure if an innocent mermaid was a possibility.

This fear was confirmed when Brienne greeted Jaime later that afternoon. Cersei, being too unwell to do it herself, demanded that Brienne tell her brother “ _or else Jaime will be terribly distraught._ ” Brienne had already learned that the two merpeople were more than brother and sister within an hour of Cersei waking. _Merpeople were strange_ , Brienne thought again, uncomfortable with how matter-of-fact the blonde beauty was about her relationship. And Jaime’s sharp tongue made matters worse.

“ **_Human_ ** ,” he said when he saw her. “Where is my sister?”

“Resting at my cottage,” Brienne told him, trying to ignore how the water clung to his skin. He was beautiful and she wondered if all mermaids were as beautiful as he and his sister. “Whatever she did to herself hurt her.” His expression darkened and Brienne rushed to clarify. “But she is doing better now. She is reveling in her plans.”

Jaime rolled his eyes. “Her plans will get her killed.” He looked at her more carefully. “And you too, human.” Brienne doubted it was concern for her prompting him to say that and chose to respond with silence, looking away from him to stare at the faint line between the sky and the sea.

“You are stranger than most humans, you know,” he remarked when it became clear that she would not rise to his bait.

Brienne remembered the refused betrothals on the account of her ugly face and said, “I know.”

“None of the ones I’ve seen would have helped my sister. Raped her yes, but I suppose you don’t have the parts for that.”

“Neither do you,” she shot back, frowning, unsure of whether that was true. She tried not to look below the surface of the water. “And it does not matter if you have parts. You can still harm and rape without a prick.”

“True enough,” he said and then he left her, diving back into his home with a splash.

Brienne didn’t know what to make of _that._

Days passed and Brienne filled an unfamiliar role. She assisted Cersei in every manner possible - Brienne had never thought that she’d have to explain a chamber pot to a mermaid and yet - until finally Cersei was able to walk on her own without falling. Her legs were strong, possibly more muscular than Brienne’s, but she was unused to the motion of walking. “It is too strange,” Cersei complained but Brienne showed her, one step at a time what to do.

Not that Cersei was grateful for it. Her complaints were many and her thanks were nothing despite the long hours Brienne spent teaching Cersei about human life. She even had to explain copulation to the mermaid who was amused by Brienne’s blushes. “You are a maid, I gather.”

“Yes,” Brienne said, hoping to move on to something more pleasant.

“Unmarried and a maid. And yet grown. Shouldn’t you be living somewhere other than your father’s cottage?”

“If I was, you wouldn’t be alive.”

Finally, Cersei was ready to face the world. Just in time for Rhaegar and Robert’s progress through Tarth. “I will seduce him,” she told Brienne. “And then I will be his wife and bear our children of water and fire.”

Whilst Cersei made her plans and practiced pouting in a looking glass, Brienne would run to the sea on Cersei’s behalf. “Tell my brother that I am well. I cannot go or else he will drown me.”

_And he will not drown me?_

But still, Brienne went, exhausted by the thought of seeing him again.

And he was always there, lazing on top a set of rocks that looked almost silver from the shining sun and the lapping sea. “You again, human?” he would say with a lazy air that was betrayed by the look of despair in his eyes. _He missed his sister. He wants nothing with me._ “Where is my sister today?”

“Where is your brother today?” Brienne would ask instead of answering and Jaime would laugh, a delightful sound that made Brienne turn red.

“Not here,” Jaime would say and then they would talk of other things -- like why she loved to climb mountains and swim in the sea.

But today was not the sort of day where they could speak of such frivolous things. “The dragon prince has arrived,” she had to tell him and hated herself for it.

His smile disappeared. “Now she will go to _him._ ”

There was no honor in lying. “Yes. She already has made her way to the village, eager to see him.”

“And she will get him for she gets everything she wants. No one wanted her to come here and yet here she is a -- a false human.” Brienne rose from her seat in the sand, ignoring how it stuck to her cotton shift, but he waved her off, angry. “Leave me, Brienne.”

“No, Jaime,” she said, surprising herself. “If you are angry with her, don’t release your anger on me. I am not the one who left you.”

“You leave me every day.”

“And then I come back.” Brienne shook her head. “You are craven,” she said, turning her back on Jaime and leaving, tired. “You both are.”

She soon found herself on a path to the village. Cersei was already there, waiting. “He will be here soon,” she hissed. “Hide yourself - he will not stop for a homely girl like you.”

Brienne ignored this. “Your brother has asked for you --”

“Jaime is worse than any woman. Fretting like one of the old hags that live in your village - busying your ears with his tales of woe. He used to be a warrior - like this Prince Rhaegar -- and now all he does is wait for me.” Although disdain dripped off Cersei’s words, Brienne noticed a glint of satisfaction in the mermaid’s green eyes. “He will have to keep waiting and you must go! Now!”

Brienne opened her mouth to argue but could not for silver-haired Rhaegar and his bride appeared on horseback -- as well as King Robert and his betrothed and their guards. Princess Elia’s eyes were dark and kind and Lyanna Stark was a cold beauty even as her smile warmed the scene. But Elia’s gaze never went to her husband and Lyanna’s smile never went to King Robert.

Cersei approached them before Brienne could stop her and she spoke rapidly and eloquently, begging their pardons and practicing false humility that made Brienne blush in embarrassment. The Kings were equally charmed by the mermaid’s false words although their women did not seem convinced. “You must come with us to the castle,” King Robert announced, looking over Cersei in a way that made Brienne wary. “Your… _friend_ can come too, I suppose,” he added, gesturing at Brienne with his hand.

Brienne was eager to decline, not interested in watching Cersei seduce a married man (a married King) but Cersei beat her to it. “Her father needs her,” she said quickly.

Princess Elia’s soft eyes turned towards Brienne and her smile made Brienne want to weep. “It is kind that you stand by your Father and even kinder that you saved this young lady from a shipwreck. You are a true, kind lady.”

“Of course, your Grace, thank you, your Grace,” Brienne said, ashamed. She wished she had not brought Cersei into their lives -- the sea witch would only plague them.

They left Brienne on the path and continued forward onto a path of what Brienne was sure would be misery and defeat.

And, again, she was right.

But not in the way she thought.

For Rhaegar had already betrayed his kind wife with another -- the warm, young Lyanna Stark, a princess of direwolves. With one stroke, the young girl united _ice with fire_. Water was no match against such a poison even if that poison was wielded by a silvery princess of the sea.

And so whilst Brienne visited Jaime with a flock of sheep by her side, Cersei marched over to Brienne’s family cottage, frothing with rage and fear, desperately looking for her poison that Brienne had buried weeks ago. The poison would save Cersei. She had to marry a Prince or a King or else soon she would turn into sea foam. The poison she had saved for Elia but now -- _now_ it looked like she’d have to spring it on both Elia and Lyanna.

If Brienne had known what was happening she would have hidden the vial of poison again, but she did not, too busy arguing with Jaime who had not mentioned Cersei’s name in a fortnight. He smirked at her and she tried not to let her heart rush forward. “You could always swim in the water with me,” he said.

They were arguing about whether it was better to live in the sea or on the land. Jaime said land, Brienne said sea. “It is too cold,” she argued.

“Have my sister turn you into a mermaid,” he said, flipping his tail out of the water so she was splashed. When she glared, wet, he laughed. “She seems to be good at things like that.”

His tone held no anger like it had before and Brienne wondered at it. “I have not seen her,” Brienne said. “And I would trust she’d rather turn me into a fish to eat than a mermaid.”

Jaime laughed again and Brienne’s heart warmed. She turned away, hoping he could not sense it. “You would like it here,” he said. “I could show you my home.”

“A castle made of sand,” she said and he laughed again and again.

“Perhaps,” Jaime said when he ceased his laughter. “But you will have to come and see for yourself.”

“I have heard tales of mermaids luring men to their deaths,” Brienne said, stepping out of the sea. Her pant legs were soaking wet. “Is that what this is?”

“You aren’t a man.” Brienne said nothing, thinking of how often she was compared to an ugly man when Jaime spoke again. “And perhaps I just want company.”

“You have your brother.”

“Not that sort of company.”

Brienne flushed and, determined to flee, took another step out of the ocean. But she was thwarted by a large wave that surprised her from behind. “What?” she splurted, her mouth full of sand.

Cersei was suddenly beside her, although from where she appeared Brienne had no idea. “Where is my poison?” she hissed, pulling Brienne’s hair hard. Brienne reached for Cersei’s ankle and dug her nails in and Cersei yelped.

“You don’t need poison!” Brienne spat and then Cersei pulled her hair hard enough to make her eyes water.

Brienne could hear Jaime saying something and could hear the splashes as he tried to reach them, but with a wave of Cersei’s hand, the waves moved forward with a ferocity Brienne could not fight against. _Am I to drown?_ Brienne wondered, clinging onto Cersei’s leg, keeping her eyes closed before the saltwater could sting. The ocean, which had been so shallow moments ago, would have reached her chest if she had still been standing.

Warm hands grabbed Brienne’s hip and pulled and Brienne was startled enough to let go of Cersei’s leg and open her eyes. The salt stung as bad as the cold and so she was unprepared when Jaime’s face came so close to hers.

His eyes spoke of trust and so she nodded, unaware of what she was exactly agreeing to. Perhaps she would not have agreed if she had known.

Because he kissed her.

His mouth was open and soon so was hers. She realized quickly that he was sending air into her lungs, saving her from drowning and Cersei’s anger. She clung to Jaime and he held her with a sort of gentleness that was better suited for an innocent maiden’s wedding night.

The water stilled around them and soon Jaime released his mouth from hers, pushing her up so she could breathe her own air. Brienne gasped once she broke through.

Cersei was still there, even angrier than before. She was standing on a small patch of sand only wide enough for her - everything around her was now water. “You fools,” she said. “I will die if I do not marry him.”

“You are the fool,” Jaime said to his sister. “You left me for a stupid dream. A dream of humans.”

Cersei looked at Brienne. “It seems that I’m not the only one who dreams of humans.”

Jaime said nothing, although under the water he twisted his fingers with Brienne’s. Brienne was too tired to wonder at this -- although much later she did. “Marry the other royal oaf,” he said. “He will need comfort after his bride leaves him for a man made of silver and fire.”

“He is no prince of dragons!”

“But you will not die, _sweet sister._ You will not become sea foam.”

Cersei’s expression turned calm. “You’re right. And he is the Storm King. Our children will have their own power.” The vain mermaid left them, disinterested, and soon the ocean lowered and Brienne and Jaime were on the sand together, exhausted.

“You should come home with me,” he said once they both had laid in silence long enough. His eyes sparkled like silver and Brienne’s heart fluttered in two different beats. “You should become a mermaid.”

“Will I…” Brienne asked, hesitating, “turn into sea foam?”

Jaime only smiled and laughed. “Never for you will be my wife.”

“What of my Father?”

“You must choose, Brienne. You may visit him always as you once visited me, but you cannot have both.”

She looked towards the path that led to her home. Her father would tell her to go. He loved her too much to stop her. “Can I tell him?”

“Of course. How else will he know to visit you? And our children?”

Brienne flushed and ducked her head. “I will go then and tell him.” She did so, quickly for she was afraid she would soon lose her nerve and although her father was in shock, he gave his blessing once he realized she was speaking the truth.

“I trust you,” her father said. “And I trust your judgment. But visit me always or else I will be lost.”

Brienne vowed to do so and she never broke that promise.

She ran back to Jaime as quick as she could, climbing down the cliffs in order to reach him faster and was glad to see he was there. “Are you ready?” he asked her.

Brienne nodded and stepped into the waves. He handed her the vial, a potion, and she drank it with only a moment’s hesitation. The pain began quickly, stemming from her feet to her hips and she would have screamed if Jaime had not held her hand and pulled her underneath the waves. For a moment she wondered if he had poisoned her but then -- she looked down.

Her fin were the colors of sapphire and silver and she gleamed in the darkness -- she could see underwater without the salt burning her eyes -- and he laughed at her smile. And when Jaime spoke, his words coming out in bubbles, and she could understand. “Now let us go home, Brienne.” She kissed him and then followed him into the deep, dark water, his hand holding hers as she found her new home.

 

**The End.**

 

**Author's Note:**

> So I hope you enjoyed this story!!! And if you're looking for more JB goodness, I decided to try and rec at least one other JB work for each story I upload this JB Week. So I think if you like this story, you'll like these:
> 
>  **[Nothing That Is So, Is So](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4501353/chapters/10235301)\- by RoseHeart:**  
>  _Brienne must go to King's Landing, pretending to be her brother and grow up living a lie, waiting for the day she is sent back home, away from being a knight and away from the man she meets there. This is a Twelfth Night inspired story._ (Complete)
> 
>  
> 
>  **[Little Does My Lady Dream](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1026327) \- by openmouthwideeye**  
>  _Great men weave lives into tapestries, making powerful pictures from forgotten bits of straw and string. This thread is worth her weight in gold. For the Monsters, Maidens, and Creatures in Between Halloween challenge. Based loosely on the fairytale "Rumpelstilskin."_ (Complete)
> 
>    
> Again, I hope you enjoyed and I'd love to read your comments/thoughts if you have any!


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